Automatic fire-extinguisher.



No. 703,663, Patented July I, I902.

I R. w. NEWTON. AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

(Application filed Apr. 25, 1892.1

(No Model.) v 2 Sheets$heet I.

WITNISEEE." JNYI TUH."

THE Nanms PEYERS 00.. PudTo-Lrrua, WASHINGTON. u. b:

No. 703,663. Patented Iuly'l, I902.

R. W. NEWTON. AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

(Application filed Apr. 25, 1892.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Fig-.9.

(No Model.)

WITNEEEI'S. INYENTUE."

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

ROBERT W. NEWTON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODF. ISLAND.

AUTOMATIC FIRE -EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,663, dated July -1,1902.

I Application filed April 25, 1892. Serial No. 430,493. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, ROBERT W. NEWTON, ofProvidence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishers;and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in the constructionof-automatic fireextinguishers adapted to be released by the action ofheat and to distribute water in the form of spray over. a large area;and it consists in the peculiar and novel. construction more fully setforth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is to' hold the valve rigidly to thevalve-seat against all possible pressure and against the action of thewater-hammer.

Another object of the invention is to continue to hold the valve firmlyagainst the valve-seat while the device by which the valve is held isbeing acted on by the heat and released. v

Another object of the invention is to protect the valve-face againstcorrosion and prevent the sticking of the valve on the valveseat.

Another object of the invention is to improve the distribution of thewater; and.an

other object of the invention is to strengthen the solder-joint andsecure its complete rupture when subjected to heat.

Figure 1 is a vertical side view of the improved automaticfire-extinguisher. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same. Fig.3is an enlarged sectional view of the distributor, showing theabutment-screw and the deflector adapted to form a lock-nut. Fig. 4 isan enlarged sectional view of the valve. Fig. 5 is a perspective view ofa compound spring; Fig. 6, a perspective view of the overlapping portionof the compound spring, and Fig. .7 a perspective view of the curvedspring. Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views of the thrust-blocks, showingthe solder-joint strengthened by means of conical pins. Fig.

10 is a sectional view of a thrust-block in which the solder-joint isstrengthened by provided with angular thrust-plates.

means of cylindrical, rods inserted in the joint. Fig. 11 is a sectionalview ofa thrustblock in which the solder-joint is strengthened bycorrngating the adjoining faces. Fig. 12 is a sectional View of athrust-block Fig. 13 is a sectional view of a thrust-block provided withsemicylindrical thrust-plates. Fig. 14 is a plan view of thethrust-block shown in Fig. 13.

Similar numbers of reference designate corresponding parts throughout.

In the drawings, 2 indicates the nozzle of the automaticfire-extinguisher. It is provided with the screw-thread 3, the annularvalve-seat 4, and the yoke 5, the arms of which terminate in thetruncated cone 6, through which the screw-threaded thrust-pin 7extendsvertical-ly. The deflector 8, as well as the cone 6, isscrew-threaded to correspond with the screw-thread on the thrust-pin 7,so that when the thrust-pin-has been adjusted the deflector is screwedup hard against the bottom of the cone 6 to firmly lock the thrustpin inthis position. The deflector 8 is provided with an outwardly-flaringperforated rim, and the annular space between the base of the cone 6 andthe outwardly-flaring inner surface of the rim is perforated. The holesin the deflector vary in-their direction, so as to distribute the watermore evenly in all directions, around as well as under the deflector. Bythis peculiar construction the stream of water discharged from thenozzle strikes the rounded end of the thrust-pin 7 and the sides of thecone 6., A large part of the inner portion of the stream is thusdeflected outward and broken into spray, while the outer portion of thestream striking the lower part of the cone is partly deflected againstthe inner flaring surface of the rim of the deflector 8 anddirected'upward'to the ceiling, while a portion of the water passesthrough the perforations ofthe deflector 8. By flaring the inner surfaceof the raised rim of the deflector a greater or lesser portion of theceiling will be covered by the deflected water of the dischargingstream.

The nozzle is closed by means of the valvedisk 9, the upper face ofwhich is provided with a circular recess, into which the disk 10 issecured. This disk 10 is made of what is known in the jewelers art asrolled plate that is to say, an ingot of inferior metal, usually brassor copper, is plated with precious metal and is then rolled out into athin sheet, one side of which is covered with athin film of preciousmetal. In the disks I use rolledgold plate is preferable, but silver,platinum, or other more or less precious metals or alloys of metals maybe used. As the precious metal is always more ductile than the interiormetal, the plated disk makes a perfectly water-tight joint when thevalve is forced against the valve-seat, and as the precious metal is notcorroded by the air or the water the valve cannot stick. The lower partof the valve 9 is provided on opposite sides with the projections 11,between which aspriug is placed on which the thrust-arms 12 hear. Thespring may be the simple curved spring shown in Fig. 7, the overlappingspring shown in Fig. 6, or the compound spring shown in Fig. 5. Theessential quality of the spring is that its resiliency is greater thanthe pressure of the water in the spinkler system, so that during therelease of the thrust -arms 12 the spring will follow the same untilthey are entirely released and hold the valve tightly to its seat toprevent the leaking of the valve until the valve is entirelyreleased,and another quality essential in the spring is that the samemust be sufficiently flexible to lie flat, metal to metal, between thethrust-arms 12 and the valve 9, so that the valve is held by a fixedunyielding dead pressure to its seat in the normal condition. I preferto construct the spring, as shown in Fig. 5, of the bent overlappingspring 13, with the curved spring 14 inserted as shown in that figure.

In such an automatic fire-extinguisher with a valve held against itsseat by a positive dead thrust sufficient to resist any abnormalpressure or water-hammer great strain is exerted on the soldered jointor joints. It is therefore essential to strengthen the same when intheir normal condition and also important to break or rupture thesolder-joint as soon as the same is weakened by the heat of a fire. Tothis end I have devised anumber of different devices, all designed tostrengthen the solder-joint when in the normal cooled condition andassist in rupturing and breaking the solder-joint when weakened by heat.

In Figs. 2, 8, and 9 the thrust-arms 12 rest on the thrust-block 15 andbear against the thrust-plates 16, which are soldered to thethrust-block, and the joint is strengthened by the pins 1'7, insertedthrough holes in the thrust-block, so that the conical pointed endsenter conical recesses in the thrust-plates 16. The pins 17 may bepermanently fixed, or they may be inserted and secured by solder. Theyresist any yielding of the plates on the line of the solder-surfacesuntil the joint is broken, so that the plates may rise over the conicalpoints of the pins. The solder-joint may be on a horizontal plane, as isshown in Figs. 2 and 8, or on inclined planes, as shown in Fig. 9.

The modification shown in Fig. 10 consists in strengthening the solderjoint by the insertion of a rod or wire. To this end the surfaces of thethrust-block 15 and the thrust-plates 16 to be secured together bysolder are grooved, so as to receive the rod or wire 18, which isinserted and the whole soldered together, so that the thrust-platescannot move or slide on the thrust-block until the solder-joint isbroken. Two rods may be used, if desired, on each thrust-plate. In thismodification (shown in Fig. 11) the upper surfaces of the portions 15 ofthe thrust-block 15 are corrugated, and the lower surfaces of thethrustplates 16 are correspondingly corrugated to practically producethe same result as the rod 18. (Shown in Fig. 10.) In Fig. 12 thethrust-plates 16 are L-shaped, the portion lo being at right angle tothe portion 16 and they are soldered, respectively, to the top and theend of the thrust-block 15, so that when the solder is heated the thrustof the thrust-arms 12 will slide the thrust-plate outward, but not untilthe solder-joint by which the portion 16 is secured to the end of thethrust-block is ruptured. By holding the foot of the thrust-plate 16 bymeans of the lip 15", as is shown on the right-hand of Fig. 12, theL-shaped thrust-plate will not move until the whole of the solderjointis ruptured. The modification shown in Figs. 13 and 14 shows athrust-block of circular form inolosed by two semicylindricalthrust-plates 19, soldered to the periphery of the thrustblock. By thisarrangement the thrust-arms 12 bear each against half of the cylinder.The solder-joint is of considerable area, and when subjected to heat thecentral portion is subjected to a tearing strain at right angles to thejoint, which gradually changes to a sliding strain at the sides 19'. Thetwo semicylindrical thrust-plates may be made of spring metal, so as tohave sufficient resiliency to open out at the sides 19 and break thejoint when the device is subjected to heat.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In an automatic fire extinguisher, in combination,the nozzle 2, the valve-seat 4:, a valve for closing the outlet, aspring bearing on the valve, the thrust-arms 12 bearing on the springand holding the same in the normal condition, metal to metal, to form arigid thrust, the thrust-block 15, the thrust-plates 16 secured to thethrust-block by solder, means, substantially as described, forstrengthening the solder-joint, the yoke 5, and the screwthreadedthrust-pin 7; the whole adapted to hold the valve to its seat rigidlyand permit the solder-joint to yield while the valve is held to itsseat, as described.

2. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination with the nozzle 2,the valve-seat 4:, the yoke 5, the valve, and the valve-supportincluding the thrust-arms 12 and thrustplates 16, of the perforated andscrew-threaded cone 6, the screw-threaded thrust-pin '7, and thedeflector 8 screw-threaded and adapted to lockthe thrust-pin in therequired position, as described.

3. In an automatic sprinkler, a valve-support for holding the valveclosedcomprising a thrust-block, a thrust-plate secured thereto bysolder and adapted to move laterally when the solder is fused, aninclined arm bearing against said thrust-plate and tending to move thesame laterally, and means whereby a lateral movement of the thrust-platewill cause said thrust-plate to be moved transversely away from thethrust-block to rupture the solder-joint, substantially as described.

given to the thrust-plate, substantially as-described.

ROBERT W. NEWTON.

Witnesses:

HENRY J. MILLER, J OSEPH A. MILLER, Jr.

